Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM SEPT. 27, 2025 21 made a perfect throw, leading Fields verti- cally and away from his man while drop- ping it in the bucket. Fields took it the rest of the way for a 66-yard touchdown, daz- zling the Notre Dame Stadium crowd with a backflip for an exclamation point. From there, the ground game took over. Love had the first 14 carries, finishing with 19 for 157 yards and a touchdown. Price reached the end zone for a 21-yard touch- down on his first attempt. He would score three more times before the day was done, including a 100-yard kickoff return for six. "That guy, that individual, could have the ball or be on the field every single play," Freeman said about Price. "But what does he do? He says, 'Coach, you want J-Love in there, put him in there. But when I get my opportunity, I'm gonna make the most of it. If we have a team of unselfish individuals like that, and they continue to commit and be self- less and sacrifice, we'll be pretty special." Junior wide receiver Jordan Faison provided the exclamation point with a 48-yard touchdown in the third quarter, catching Purdue lacking on an out-and- up. Carr, whose services were rarely re- quired but much appreciated, checked into the route at the line of scrimmage after noticing the Boilermakers were sitting on the quick out. In his first career win, Carr finished with 10 completions for 223 yards on just 12 pass attempts. However, Notre Dame's defense — led by embattled coordinator Chris Ash — showed many of the same flaws that plagued the Irish against Miami and Texas A&M. The pass rush failed to get home until after the weather delay, even when it blitzed. With sophomore cor- nerback Leonard Moore and redshirt senior nickel back DeVonta Smith (both ankle) out, the secondary was extremely leaky. Frustration was visible again. Purdue quarterback Ryan Browne com- pleted 17 of 26 throws for 224 yards and a touchdown in the first half alone, and running back Devin Mockobee added 14 passing yards and a score on a trick play. "It wasn't perfect," Freeman said. "You guys saw it. I saw it. There is work to do. There are things we gotta con- tinue to try to get fixed." The Irish face another prolific offense but porous defense in Week 5, when they travel to Arkansas. In an interview with NBC's Zora Stephenson during the weather delay, an exasperated-looking Freeman acknowledged that his own defense has to figure it out if Notre Dame hopes to start a winning streak. "We can't keep saying, 'We shoulda,'" Freeman told Stephenson. "We gotta start doing it. And it's everybody. It's every play." FIRST QUARTER NOTRE DAME 14, PURDUE 7 Top Moment: Notre Dame's offense wasted no time to strike against Purdue. The Irish opened with a 66-yard touch- down pass from redshirt freshman quar- terback CJ Carr to redshirt senior wide receiver Malachi Fields, who finished in the end zone with a backflip flourish. Fields outran cornerback Tony Grimes on a post route, caught the ball just in- side the 20-yard line and ran away for six points on the Irish's first offensive play. Feature Performer: The Irish leaned on junior running back Jeremiyah Love on its second touchdown drive of the game. He carried 8 times for 39 yards, including a 1-yard touchdown plunge to cap a 10-play, 56-yard drive. Stats: Both teams combined for 258 yards in the first quarter — 136 for Pur- due and 122 for Notre Dame. The Irish converted all three third-down attempts. Items: Purdue kept its third drive alive with a fake punt on fourth-and-5 from its own 40-yard line. Punter Jack Mc- Callister rushed for 10 yards on the play … Two plays before the fake punt, red- shirt sophomore defensive end Boubacar Traore recorded Notre Dame's first sack of the game on Ryan Browne. Traore forced a fumble that Purdue recovered … Redshirt senior Jalen Stroman led Notre Dame with 4 tackles and 1 pass broken up. SECOND QUARTER NOTRE DAME 35, PURDUE 23 Top Moment: Redshirt junior run- ning back Jadarian Price brought some life to Notre Dame Stadium with a 100-yard kickoff return shortly after the game re- sumed following a weather delay of nearly two hours. Officials threw a flag during the play but determined after discussion that the Irish didn't commit a penalty. Feature Performer: Price didn't touch the ball for Notre Dame's offense in the first quarter. He made a serious im- pact in the second quarter with a pair of touchdown runs of 21 and 9 yards. Price totaled 57 yards on 6 carries in the quarter in addition to his kick return touchdown. Stats: Purdue outgained Notre Dame again in the second quarter, 150-109. The Irish rushed for 98 yards. The Boil- ermakers were 1 of 5 on third down. Items: Notre Dame sophomore left tackle Anthonie Knapp left the field for one play with an apparent ankle issue. Starting right guard Guerby Lambert, a redshirt freshman, moved to left tackle with Knapp sidelined. Redshirt sopho- more Sullivan Absher entered at right guard … Freshman linebacker Madden Faraimo deflected a pass intended for wide receiver Michael Jackson III, and junior cornerback Christian Gray secured the ball for an interception … The game en- tered a weather delay of nearly two hours with 1:31 remaining in the first half due to lightning in the area. The game stopped at 5:06 p.m. EDT and resumed at 7 p.m. THIRD QUARTER NOTRE DAME 56, PURDUE 23 Top Moment: Carr signaled some- thing to junior wide receiver Jordan Faison prior to taking a first-and-10 snap. Moments later he delivered a 48- yard touchdown pass to Faison, who beat cornerback Hudauri Hines with a double move to create space between him and the defender. Carr reached 183 passing yards on his seventh completion and ninth pass attempt in the game. The strike gave Notre Dame a 49-23 lead with 9:52 remaining in the third quarter. Feature Performer: Love rushed 5 times for 76 yards, including a 46-yard touchdown for Notre Dame's first score in the quarter. He outran multiple Pur- due defenders after turning the corner near the Irish sideline. Stats: Purdue totaled just 29 yards in the third quarter. The Irish rushed for 95 yards, threw for 140 yards and averaged 13.1 yards per play. Items: Price logged his fourth touch- down of the game on a 1-yard run with 3:46 left in the third quarter. Sophomore defensive end Bryce Young recorded his first sack of the season with a 9-yard set- back for Browne. Redshirt sophomore quarterback Kenny Minchey took over Notre Dame's offense with many second- teamers with 59 seconds left in the quarter. FOURTH QUARTER NOTRE DAME 56, PURDUE 30 Top Moment: Freshman Dallas